Business and Skilled Migration Queensland has received additional quota for the skilled program and is re-opening the ‘Working in Queensland, ‘Masters’ and ‘PhD’ Queensland Skilled Occupation Lists (the Lists) from 18 April 2019. Once this quota has been filled the program will close again until July 2019. The Lists have recently been amended with occupations added and removed so will need to reviewed by the applicant before lodgment of an EOI. The Lists are available at: https://migration.qld.gov.au/skilled-occupation-lists/ Only EOI’s submitted from 18 April 2019 will be picked up via Skill Select. This means that if an applicant has lodged an EOI prior to this date and not received an invitation a new EOI will need to be submitted. Applicants must be onshore only and meet the onshore criteria for working in Queensland, including being employed for 6 months in the nominated occupation before submitting an EOI and have an ongoing job offer for at least a year. Queensland Masters graduates must be currently working in the nominated occupation and have continual ongoing employment for at least 12 months. PhD graduates are not required to have a job, however there is an exception for the occupation of University Lecturer. PhD applicants applying under the occupation of University Lecturer (ANZSCO code 242111), must meet working in Queensland criteria including having been employed for six months in their nominated occupation and have continual ongoing employment for at least 12 months. Invitations to suitable candidates will commence from 24 April 2019.
The Federal Government is launching a new tourism campaign aimed at backpackers from the United Kingdom, France and Germany to lure more working holiday makers and boost the Australian economy. The number of backpackers arriving in the country has stagnated. A campaign video launched on 20 April 2019 will run in the United Kingdom, France and Germany and will re-engage young foreigners on the benefits of working while holidaying in Australia. Quarterly figures from the Department of Home Affairs shows there were 145,479 working holiday makers as at December 2018, compared to 146,431 in the same period last year, December 2017. However, the numbers dropped substantially between March 2017 and September 2017 when it went from 150,059 to 136,925, during which the backpacker tax came into effect. This is one of a range of measures introduced to promote the working holiday visas. The Government last year also announced it would ease time limit restrictions on working holiday makers allowing them to spend more time in Australia. The changes allow backpackers to stay with one employer for up to a year, rather than six months as well as being allowed to renew their visas for a second year, and sometimes a third.
Please note changes to electronic application form introduced on 17th April 2019. You may need to start a new application for an incomplete application. A new electronic application form was introduced for the Working Holiday visa on 17 April 2019. Any partially completed, ‘saved’ or, ‘in progress’ Working Holiday visa application forms that were not submitted by 16 April 2019 will be set to a status of ‘discontinued’ within ImmiAccount. Applicants will need to start a new Working Holiday visa application form to continue the visa application process.
The Subclass 491 Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) and Subclass 494 Skilled Employer Sponsored visas will be introduced from 16 November 2019. These are points tested skilled assessment migration visa which requires either employer or state government nomination, or sponsorship by an eligible family member who is settled in a designated regional area. The validity period for either visa is five years. Holders of either visa will be work in a nominated position within any designated regional area. Condition 8579 will be imposed on both visas to enforce the government’s intention that that visa holders live, work and study only in regional areas and, if employer sponsored, only in the nominated position. A new permanent visa, the Subclass 191 Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) visa will be introduced in November 2022. To meet the requirements of the permanent visa, applicants must have held a subclass 491 or 494 visa for at least 3 years, have complied with the conditions on that visa and have met minimum taxable income requirements. The Subclass 187 (Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme) Visa and the Subclass 489 (Skilled Regional (Provisional)) Visa (subclass 489) will close to new applicants from 16 November 2019. Transitional arrangements will be put in place for applications which have been lodged and are undecided at that time. New points test thresholds for both the subclass 489 and 491 visas are: 15 points for nomination by a State or Territory government agency or sponsorship by a family member residing in regional Australia, to live and work in regional Australia; 10 points for a skilled spouse or de facto partner; 10 points for certain Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics qualifications; 5 points for a spouse or de facto partner with ‘competent English’; and 10 points for applicants without a spouse or de facto partner.
A parliamentary Senate committee last week made four recommendations on the government’s planned citizenship changes. The report can be accessed here. The four recommendations are: The senate committee recommended that English language requirements should not be so high. The committee also suggested that Australian permanent residents, who were granted visas before the April 20th, should be allowed to apply for citizenship under old rules It also called for the government to reconsider its plan to ban applications for two years if the applicant failed the citizenship test thrice. And finally, to pass the bill.
As the situation for Rohingya Muslims worsens in Myanmar, Greens have called on the government to take in 20,000 refugees fleeing bloodshed. The political party has suggested Australia organises an emergency intake similar to the Syria program launched two years ago. According to United Nations, at least 300,000 people have fled Myanmar to Bangladesh in recent weeks.As the situation for Rohingya Muslims worsens in Myanmar, Greens have called on the government to take in 20,000 refugees fleeing bloodshed. The political party has suggested Australia organises an emergency intake similar to the Syria program launched two years ago. According to United Nations, at least 300,000 people have fled Myanmar to Bangladesh in recent weeks.
New research from the Economist Intelligence Unit has confirmed that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has a positive, causal impact on employment in Australia. Modelling based on data since 2000 has shown that a A$1 billion increase in FDI would result in the creation of around 1,000 Australian jobs. Australia was able to attract over A$140 billion in new foreign direct investment. This was up A$21.2 billion, or 17.8 per cent on the A$119 billion invested in Australia in 2013. ‘Investment and trade are two sides of the same coin, and without investment we would not have been able to create the strong national industries that underpin our economy.’ Minister Andrew Robb said. ‘To be clear, investment equals jobs and growth.’ The total stock of FDI in Australia as at year end 2014, amounted to A$688 billion, or 2.2 per cent of total global FDI. The investment outcomes by the Australian Trade Commission (Austrade) in terms of the number of projects supported, were up 28 per cent in the fiscal year 2014/15, reaching almost A$7.75 billion. You can read all of the figure here. http://dfat.gov.au/about-us/publications/Pages/international-investment-australia.aspx It is an informative resource providing detailed snapshots of the latest trends in Australia’s international investment position with the world (both inwards and outwards) as well as a summary of the world direct investment position. With the investments and employment opportunities in Australia growing it is extremely essential that people looking for work are ready to be employed.
Visa applicants who will be doing their specified work after 31 August for their second WHV will need to make sure that they have pay slips that cover each day of work when submitting an application for a second Working Holiday visa. Electronic copies of applicants pay slips can be uploaded as attachments to their online second Working Holiday visa application, or hardcopies can be provided with a paper application. All Australian employers must provide their employees with pay, conditions and workplace entitlements in accordance with the Fair Work Act 2009 or relevant state legislation. This includes work performed in Australia’s agriculture sector, such as plant or animal cultivation activities on a farm. From 31 August 2015, all applicants for a second Working Holiday visa must provide pay slips as evidence of appropriate remuneration with their application. This will help ensure that work undertaken by Working Holiday visa holders is performed in accordance with workplace law. All Australian employers are legally required to provide their employees with pay slips. Work performed before the commencement date will not require pay slip evidence. Pay slips need to show that the participant’s specified work was paid work and that the pay was in accord with the basic pay entitlements employees should receive when working in Australia. Australian rates of pay can be found on the Fair Work Ombudsman website. Temporary transitional arrangements The Department acknowledges that some participants will be in the middle of a work placement on 31 August 2015, and might be unable to provide pay slips for work undertaken on/around that date. In this scenario, pay slips will not be required, provided it is clear from the dates on the participant’s specified work supporting documentation (such as Form1263 (171KB PDF)) that the placement was already underway on 31 August 2015. Questions you may have about your circumstances: What if I’m not given pay slips from my employer? Don’t be afraid to ask your employer for pay slips – it’s your legal right, and they have to contain certain information. For more information about pay slips, go to:http://www.fairwork.gov.au/pay/pay-slips-and-record-keeping/pay-slips How do I know if I’ve been paid the right amount? In some cases, your pay rate will be set by the national minimum wage, which is currently $17.29 per hour (before tax). You may be entitled to a higher rate if you are covered by an award, enterprise agreement or other registered agreement. For more information about pay, and to use the ‘Pay Calculator’, go to: http://calculate.fairwork.gov.au/findyouraward What about volunteer work? We know that some groups, like Willing Workers on Organic Farms, promote themselves to Working Holiday visa holders. If you’d like to volunteer some of your time to help out doing activities that count as specified work, you can, but you won’t be able to count it towards your 88 days specified work if you start the volunteer work after 31 August 2015. If you started the volunteer work before 31 August, you will be able to count all days worked on the placement, even if you finish up after 31 August. If you finished volunteer work before 31 August that counts as specified work, you can include these days towards your 88 days specified work if you apply for a second Working Holiday visa.
Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) breaching standards could be issued with an immediate fine under the new infringement notice scheme starting the 2nd of April, 2015. New laws recently passed in the Senate require anyone, including brokers and other third parties, marketing a vocational education and training (VET) course to clearly identify which RTO is providing the qualification. Assistant Minister for Education and Training, Senator Simon Birmingham, said that up until now the national regulator, the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) could only write warning letters, or take regulatory action such as cancelling or suspending a provider’s registration. “Penalties for the fines range from a couple of thousand dollars to ten thousand for a single breach, and for multiple breaches there is the potential for the ultimate fine to be hundreds of thousands of dollars. ASQA can still take RTOs to court for serious breaches, including where an RTO breaches a condition of its registration, and can suspend or revoke registration of an RTO.” Posted on: www.mealliance.com.au
Select Legislative Instrument 2015 No. 34 by the Minister of Immigration and Border Protection amends the Migration Regulations 1994 in relation to work related conditions for English language test requirement, foreign air crew, character and cancellation, sponsorship obligation timeframes, medical examination requirements and legislative instrument for application requirements. You can view the entire explanatory statement here. English language test score at the time of invitation: allow an English language test score to be accepted for points tested skilled visas if the test was conducted three years before the applicant was invited to apply for the visa, rather than three years before the application was lodged. This ensures that English test scores do not become invalid between the invitation to apply for the visa and the application being lodged; Foreign crew on domestic flights: limit the number of domestic flights that foreign aircrew are permitted to work on while holding a Special Purpose visa. The amendments provide a limit of two connecting domestic flights for foreign air crew and one connecting domestic flight for positioning foreign air crew (persons forming crew on departure). This ensures that opportunities for Australian workers on domestic flights are protected; Lower English language test scores for 476 and 485 visas: enable lower English language test scores to be specified for the Skilled Recognised Graduate and Temporary Graduate visas so that these visas can be more responsive to Australia’s labour market requirements. The tests and scores will be specified in an instrument made by the Minister; Visa application form place of lodgement: provide that the visa application form, the place in which a visa application must be lodged and the manner in which a visa application must be made (for example by internet or paper) are specified in an instrument made by the Minister, rather than set out in the Migration Regulations. This enables these administrative details to be changed more rapidly, as required, to facilitate more efficient processing arrangements; Sponsorship requirements for 457 visas: extend the timeframes in which an approved sponsor must notify the Department of certain events relating to the sponsored person (for example, a change in work duties). The amendment extends the timeframe from 10 working days to 28 calendar days to ensure there is sufficient time to comply with the requirement. It also reduces confusion for businesses as it would align with other comparable reporting periods that must be met by business; Medical tests for 485 visa: repeal the requirement that an applicant for a Temporary Graduate visa must provide evidence of having made arrangements for medical examinations at the time of application for the visa. The amendment removes an unnecessary burden on applicants as many applicants may not be required to have a medical examination to meet the health requirement at the time of decision for the visa; Cancellation of visas: prescribe the time periods and the manner in which the Minister must make notifications in relation to visa cancellation or revocation of cancellation permitted under powers that were introduced in the Migration Amendment (Character and General Visa Cancellation) Act 2014 (sections 501BA and 501CA). The same time periods that apply to section 501 (refusal or cancellation on character grounds) apply in relation to these powers; and make technical or consequential amendments